Virtual Event Planning

It is helpful to approach the design of a virtual event in the same way you would a live event. Some good guiding questions are:

• What is the purpose of this event?
• Who is the audience?
• How many attendees are expected?
• What will the format and length of the event be?
• Will there be a presentation followed by a Q&A?
• Will there be a panel discussion?
  • Will there be pre-submitted questions?
• What is on the agenda?
• How will you engage your attendees?
• How are you going to advertise/promote your event?
• What is the budget for your event?

Please review the Accessible Meeting & Event Checklist (pdf), which has a list of useful websites to help make your webinar an inclusive event.

• Will your virtual event be best over Zoom, Google Meet, etc?
• If your event will take place over Zoom, determine which type of Zoom platform is best for your event
  • Zoom Meeting: Ideal for hosting interactive sessions where you will want a lot of audience participation or to break out into smaller groups
  • Zoom Webinar: Ideal for large audiences or events that are open to the public. Attendees don’t interact with one another, but hosts, co hosts and panelists can interact with attendees via Polls, Q&A or the chat function. Webinars can be livestreamed to increase availability to an unlimited number of viewers. Livestreaming also enhances security of the event and limits Q&A or chat participation.
    • Note:  If you’d like to schedule a Zoom Webinar, this will have to be done through the Marketing & Communications Office. Please contact Justine Dadamio at dadamiojm@sunybroome.edu for more information.
• If you are using Zoom Meetings and you don’t have a Zoom account, please contact Fermin Romero at romerof@sunybroome.edu or +1 (607) 778-5657

• Check the Campus Events Calendar and the Campus Impact Calendar (the Impact Calendar requires your SUNY Broome gmail login) to make sure there are no conflicts with other events
• Schedule your meeting or webinar on the correct platform to generate a URL.
• Enter your event on the Campus Impact Calendar with the virtual URL. If you do not have this permission setting, please contact Justine at dadamiojm@sunybroome.edu to enter your event on the calendar.

• Host: person responsible for technical aspects of the event
• Co-host(s): back up to the host with access to same technical controls as the host, but with the attention to attendees during the event
  • Welcomes attendees
  • Moderates Q&A, Polls, Chats
  • Removes attendees, monitors microphones and videos, as needed
• Enable captioning/transcription at the start of the event and in break-out sessions
• Breakout Room Moderators: if utilizing this function, moderators will facilitate discussions
• Panelists: engage attendees with content

• Log into Zoom to edit your meeting/webinar and go through each individual setting (waiting room, registration, passcode, recording, livestream, closed captioning, live transcription, etc.)

For a tutorial on enabling closed captioning and live transcription services please visit Zoom’s support article.

• Submit a Share Your News form to advertise on the Buzz, HiveHQ, and Campus Events Calendar.
  • Consider submitting reminders through the Share Your News form as the event approaches.
  • If you are using visual materials during your event, encourage attendees to join by computer

Note: For Zoom Webinars where your event is open to the public, you should include the Zoom URL. For Zoom Meetings, it is best to only share the Zoom URL with intended guests and to enable a Passcode to deter unwanted guests from joining.

• Consider sharing events on social media channels. Contact marcom@sunybroome.edu for more information. Campus clubs and student organizations should contact Campus Life Website.
• Consider making posters, flyers, PowerPoints and more for your event. Visit MarCom’s Publication Templates page for suggestions and instructions!
• If your event is organized by a club or organization, submit an event request through The Swarm.

Prior to the event:

• Have your speakers used Zoom before?
• Are your speakers familiar with proper audio and lighting settings?
• Are your speakers familiar with screen sharing?
• Will your speakers have stable connectivity during the event?
• Do your speakers have appropriate hardware, including cameras, headphones, and/or microphones?
• Are your speakers familiar with how to enable captioning/transcription via Zoom?

Practice Session:

• Ask your speaker(s) to log in 30 minutes early to test software, apps, Zoom settings and controls

• Provide your host, co-host, panelists and moderators with an agenda prior to the event
• Have the host sign in prior to everyone to test technical settings
• Have all other co-hosts, panelists and moderators sign in 30 minutes before the event begins to test connectivity and review the agenda

• Run Zoom reports (attendee report, registration report, Q&A report, Poll report) and recordings and transcriptions review
• Create and conduct a survey via Google Forms to collect feedback from attendees to help with future events